Lime and Cilantro Steak Marinade

I needed to liven up the steak situation in my house. Granted, grilled steak is usually pretty good, but once in awhile, it could use a swift kick in the pants.  This is what this recipe did for it. I marinated it for around two hours, but the longer you marinate, the more intense the flavor will be. I paired the steak with a baked potato and steamed vegetables.
Cilantro Lime Marinated Steaks
This is from the Aug/Sept. 2005 Cooking Pleasures magazine via Pimp My Dinner Blog
Marinade:
1/2 C. chopped cilantro
1/2 C. lime juice
1/4 C. olive oil
1 Tbs. grated lime peel
1 Tbs. minced garlic
2 tsp. kosher (coarse) salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
Directions:
 Place all marinade ingredients in blender; blend until smooth. Place steaks in 1-gallon resealable plastic bag; pour in marinade. Seal bag; turn to coat steaks. Refrigerate at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally.When ready to grill, place all cilantro spread ingredients in food processor or blender; pulse until paste forms. Place in small bowl.Heat grill. Remove steaks from marinade; discare marinade. Pat steaks dry. Place on gas grill over medium heat or on charcoal grill 4 to 6 inches from medium coals; cover grill. Grill 10 to 14 minutes for medium rare, turning once. Place on platter, cover loosely with foil. Let stand 5 minutes.

Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken with Rice Pilaf and Roasted Veggies

Nothing says Sunday to me more than a hearty, gut busting family dinner.  If you ask my husband the same question, he'd most like answer watching football while grading papers. In any case, we got the best of both worlds by enjoying this roasted chicken (I used Ina Garten's recipe), along with some yummy roasted vegetables and Rice Pilaf (my mother in law's recipe). It was over two hours of cooking and ten minutes of eating. I have never seen food fly so fast off the table. I highly recommend this recipe for any gathering. It's sure to please even the finickiest of eaters.
Ina Garten's Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken
Ingredients

1 (5 to 6-pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme
4 lemons
3 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 pound sliced bacon
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, reserving enough thyme to garnish the chicken dish, 1 lemon, halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Cut 2 of the lemons in quarters and scatter the quarters and remaining garlic around the chicken. Lay the bacon slices over the chicken to cover. Roast the chicken for 1 hour. Remove the bacon slices from the top of the chicken and set aside. Continue roasting the chicken for an additional 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half.
Slice the chicken on a platter. Garnish the chicken platter with the bacon slices, roasted garlic, reserved thyme and 1 lemon, sliced. Serve with the gravy.

Mimi's Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
1 cup rice,uncooked
1/2 cup butter
2 TBSP onion powder
1 can (10 3/4 oz) beef broth(I used chicken)
1 can water
1/4 TSP Majoram
1/4 TSP ground Sage
1/4 TSP Rosemary

Directions
Melt butter and add to casserole dish.Mix herbs and ice with butter and add to dish. Add broth and water and bake at 350 for 1 hour, uncovered. Cover with foil to keep warm until served.

You can use my recipe for  Roasted Veggies  here.I used about 15 baby carrots, cut and 1/4 butternut squash, 2 garlic cloves and 1/4 of white onion, roughly cut.

Lazy Mama Baked Penne

Today's craptastic weather did nothing to spur my motivation to go grocery shopping. I still had to figure out what to make and pasta is always on the list of my 'go to' meals. I had a whole box of unopened Penne Pasta. Great! One can of Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce. A small container of ricotta cheese I mistakenly through in my shopping cart last weekend. What better thing to make with these ingredients than baked pasta? Well, lo and behold, the cheese situation was a bit sketchy. I only had about 1/4 bag of shredded Mozzarella, so I needed to improvise. I did have some shredded Parmesan, as well as greated. I figured I would just throw it together and hope for the best. The outcome? A big thumbs up from the family!  This can feed about 4 or 5 people and it took about half the time since it wasn't a big batch.

Lazy Mama Baked Penne
Ingredients
1 can (29 oz) of Tuttorosso or any canned tomato sauce (I used about 3/4 of this can)
1/4 bag of shredded Mozzarella cheese(part skim,low moisture)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 TBSP garlic or 1 diced garlic clove
1 TBSP onion powder
1 TSP basil
Salt & pepper to taste (start with 1/4 tsp and add as you cook sauce)
1 Box (16oz) of Penne Pasta
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 450.
Boil  water for pasta. In a separate sauce pan, add tomato sauce and all spices. Stir intermittently.
When pasta is done, drain and hose off with cool water. Remove sauce from heat.  In a bowl, mix Ricotta, 1/2 the Mozzarella, shredded and grated Parmesan. Once pasta is cool, add to bowl with cheese. Once sauce has cooled, as to pasta and cheese. You can use you hands thourough mix sauce, pasta and cheese. Add a small layer of sauce to coat bottom of lasagna pan. Add pasta mixture to lasagna pan, topping off with the remainder of Mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve with garlic bread.

MA, Meatloaf! Meatloaf!

What do you make when you buy one of those mega packs of ground beef at your local bulk superstore? Well, there's meatloaf...and meatloaf....and chili......and meatloaf..... Seriously, I only made it once last night, trying a recipe for BBQ Meatloaf, which is new to our household. I am not a big fan of meatloaf, but this was certainly passable. My husband said it was like eating ribs without the bone. I guess that's good! I paired it with steamed broccoli and buttered orzo. The kids were more into the orzo and "trees" than the meatloaf, even though I tried to convince my three year old it was a meatball. He was having NONE of that. I made a variation on the recipe provided by Tasty Meatloaf Recipes.

Barbecue Meatloaf Ingredients(Feeds 4)

1 LB -1.5 LBS of Ground Beef
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 TBSP of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 TBSP of garlic powder
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup barbecue sauce

Barbecue Meatloaf Recipe Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except barbeque sauce in a large bowl. Transfer mixture to a 5 x 9 inch ungreased meatloaf pan. Pour barbecue sauce over the tope of the meatloaf.
Bake meatloaf for 1 hour or until center is no longer pink. If using a meat thermometer, the internal temperature of the meatloaf should be 180 degrees.
Let meatloaf sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan to serve. You can serve with additional barbecue sauce if desired.

Steamed Broccoli and Buttered Orzo
1 Bag of Microwave Steam-able Broccoli or two bunches, cleaned, chopped and steamed
1 box of Orzo Pasta
3 TBSP of Butter
1 TBSP garlic powder
1TBSP grated Parmesan(optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Prepare pasta and steam broccoli. Combine with butter and spices. Enjoy!

I also used my bulk purchase to make quick and easy chili, paired with corn bread. I usually use the packets of chili mix/seasoning, to which you add about 1 LB of ground beef, packet, diced tomatoes or tomato sauce, along with red beans. This is a super quick and easy meal, not to mention yummy. I have a chili recipe that my step dad created to make it from scratch - I will save that beauty for one football Sunday. I used Penguin Foods Organic Cornbread mix for the cornbread and it is awesome! My son calls it "Mommy Cake" and has no idea it is somewhat healthy for him.

Coming Soon: My Adventures and Misadventures in Cookie Baking (AKA 'Why the Hell is My Frosting Pink?')

MS's Tiramisu Cupcakes

Two of my favorite things: tirmasu and cupcakes. What could be better than a tiramisu cupcake? I will be honest and say that even though these cupcakes were delicious, I'd like to keep these two entities separate. My husband described it as being similar to the invention of cheeseburger pizza. Cheeseburgers are great and so is pizza. BUT if you put it together,while not BAD, it does not meet expectations. I'd also like to add that I think tiramisu really means "huge mess in the kitchen". All in all, the cupcakes were a tasty treat but it wasn't like eating real tiramisu. The only advice I can give is make sure you use plenty of the marsala syrup and let it aborb for more than an hour.  No matter how tempting the cupcakes look, they must sit and soak.  The frosting is heavenly and the cupcakes are a wicked (in a good sense) vanilla flavor.  I guess they 2 vanilla beans I purchased for 14.99 were doing their job. So here's the recipe, have fun and enjoy!
Martha Stewart's Tiramisu Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted

3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup sugar
Coffee-Marsala Syrup (recipe to follow)
Mascarpone Frosting (recipe to follow)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted. Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 1/2 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. To finish, brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving.
Martha Stewart's Tiramisu Cupcakes

From Martha Stewart Cupcakes, May 2009
Ingredients
Marscapone Frosting (Makes about 2 cups)
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or cream will be grainy). In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.
From Martha Stewart Cupcakes, May 2009

Marsala Syrup
Ingredients (Makes enough for 18 cupcakes)
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly brewed very strong coffee (or espresso)
1 ounce marsala
1/4 cup sugar
Directions
Stir together coffee, marsala, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

From Martha Stewart Cupcakes, May 2009

Roasted Veggie Pasta Primavera

This was a lazy week for the family. My husband, a teacher, had two in service days, followed by a four day weekend. I tried to keep the meals simple, but also wanted to try something new.I added a different twist to an old favorite, Pasta Primavera. Instead of just sautéing the veggies or steaming them, I roasted the veggies and added butternut squash for a nice change. The result: simple, yet nutritional and yummy. Enjoy!

Pasta Primavera(Serves 4)
1/2 -3/4 box of Spaghetti Rigatti or Angel Hair Pasta
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 butternut squash, seeded and peeled(use an apple peeler), then cubed
3 TBSP olive oil (2 for sautéing garlic, one for tossing veggies prior to roasting)
1 TBSP Kosher salt
1 TSP pepper
1 TSP parsley
1 TSP onion powder

Prepare and chop veggies. Take all veggies, excluding garlic, and toss with seasoning and 1 TBSP olive oil. Spread out on baking sheet and roast at 375 for 25 minutes or until fork tender. While roasting veggies, boil water and cook pasta. Drain when complete. Heat 2 TBSP olive oil and add garlic. When veggies are done, add mixture to pan and coat. Add pasta and combine all ingredients. Enjoy!

Wild and Crazy Confetti Turkey Burger

Like every family, mine gets bored with the same meals over and over.  Within the last year, we've adapted to having ground turkey as part of our diets, mainly in the form of turkey chili.  I decided we needed a change, so I started trying to find a healthy and tasty recipe for ground turkey. As I flipped through Rachael Ray's Cooking 'Round the Clock Cookbook, I found the recipe for Urban Cowboy Burgers.  I had to make some adjustments to make it more palatable for my family.  This is a great recipe for anyone doing a low carb diet - just omit the bun. Anyhow, here is the recipe for the burger. Give it a shot and see what you think.

Jaime's Wild and Crazy Confetti Turkey Burger (makes 4)
1 1/3 pounds ground turkey
8 slices of turkey bacon
1 package or separately purchased(1) each green,yellow & red peppers(small)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 TBSP parsley
2 TBSP thyme
2 TSP ground cumin
2 TSP Frank's Hot Sauce
2 TSP Montreal Steak Seasoning(McCormick) or any grill seasoning
2 -3 TBSP olive oil (to coat pan)
1 slice of American cheese per burger (optional)
1 toasted Kaiser roll per burger (optional)

Seed and chop peppers(only half of each small pepper). Chop garlic. Cook bacon and when done, remove from pan and set aside. Coat pan with olive oil or prepare grill.  Combine peppers, garlic and spices with turkey.  Separate into four burgers. Cook until meat is done. Place cheese slices on each burger and allow to melt. Remove burgers and place on buns.Voila!